When the one by two kitchen arrives back home..

Firstly.. Let me apologise for the lag between the posting whilst I was in the UK to now back home in Indonesia.

So, so far in Indonesia I have made a carrot cake as shown below. The poser in the picture is my dear sister Rachel.

To be perfectly honest, my first try was way too greasy (I followed the recipe instruction religiously). However the second try proved to me that I don't need to use as much oil as the first one, less sugar (remember, I'm a huge fan of the South Beach Diet and so sugars are actually not on my easy list!) I'm going to do the third batch soon with lesser sugar and I'm planning to use wholemeal flour to substitute the plain flour that I have been using.

For the time being - please enjoy the picture. I'm going to post the recipe as soon as I have found the 'perfect' one.

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Tribute to the original one by two kitchen

If you've followed my blog or if you have read my first posting - then this would be the second historical post of the one by two kitchen blog.

the one by two kitchen started in a small pantry (literally one by two meters only) of a twin studio room in a student residence hall. Today marks the day when I will leave this room for good. I will be living off campus next academic year and thus today is the day when I shall say goodbye to the so many wonderful memories that I have had in this studio.. and especially to the so many memories of this little pantry where I've managed to create and tried and tested so many recipes. I have lots of good memories as well about the so many lovely people that have come and tried the dishes!

So goodbye, the original one by two kitchen. I'm sitting alone at 4 AM in the morning just being grateful for how much this little pantry has managed to help me to start getting creative in cooking.

How can I ever forget the memories of the original one by two kitchen? However it is time to move on now, and the one by two kitchen will carry on its legacy to different places with the same old brand new creativity and beautiful healthy dishes!

LOVE. and TRIBUTE to the original one by two kitchen!

the one by two kitchen is back - full of Patisserie ideas!

Hello!

Apologies for not posting for quite some time! This is due to the fact that I was in London for 5 days and now I'm busy packing my stuffs before sending them for the summer storage!

It is of a great apology that I will not be posting recipes today. I will in a due course though - this is simply because at the moment I am very busy.

So today's posting will be about ideas and ideas and ideas.

To be honest and to be proudly honest, I have been blessed with a good brain interceptor for creativity and know-hows especially about travelling. I have acted as tour guides to quite a bunch of people to tour around the UK and especially in London. One of the best part of being guided by me touring around the UK is I simply know where to pamper your tastebuds!

Afternoon tea is always something for me and has always inspired the one by two kitchen's recipe collections. I love going to La Duree in Harrods Dept. Store, Knightsbridge, London, simply because of the cafe's beautiful decorations (although sadly no photographs are allowed) and their beautiful patisseries. Macarons are their speciality and they do it perfect. Nevertheless, if you are not into these scrumptious and delicate treats, you should row yourself to their cakes sections, where you can find Religious Rose, which by the way, is just so beautiful and delicate that I even squealed a little when the French waiter served me the cake!

For the record - I love baking. I have the whole set for baking (although quite honestly they are the basic manual ones cos I don't want to buy all the expensive stuffs). In the past I have baked chocolate cakes, cookies and other simple patisserie actions. However the Religious Rose at La Duree prompts me to do something more about my baking skills (I will do when I go back home in a week's time!)

I'm also very passionate about the macarons in La Duree, especially the mini ones! I love the Pistachio flavour.. I'm also going to try to make the macarons this summer!

So dear friends back at home.. You'll be shipped tons of patisseries from the one by two kitchen, be it experimental, on the course of perfection or the one by two kitchen special.

And you'll be on my blog, people!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Chinese Tomato Scrambled Egg - Fan Qie Chao Dan!

Oh hello people!

I did not post anything yesterday, because I was so freaking tired after the IndoSoc of our Uni organised the largest Indonesian festival in the UK. It was an awesome day but it was very tiring as well! Kudos to the main committee and everybody!

So today I went to London for shopping (it was 30% off at Harrods) and that is the reason why I post this recipe quite late. While I was at Harrods Knightsbridge, I circled around the Food Hall and found that they have nice-looking ready-to-cook food. They all looked awesome and I am going to give them a try one day (hopefully in a week's time as I'll be going again to London!)

Talking about Posh Food - this particular recipe - Chinese Tomato Scrambled Egg or Fan Jie Cao Dan in Chinese (番茄炒蛋）- is not that posh as in you can only find them in particular restaurants. In fact, this dish is very homemade-y and is always available at small Chinese restaurants and even the canteen! I think the reason is simple. This recipe is very easy to make, and yet it is one of the tastiest food (my favourite food nonetheless). This recipe is 100% truly inspired from my true love of this dish whilst studying in China (and my extreme effort to recreate the dish before I left China for good). While I was doing my South Beach Diet (I dropped 1.6 stone - 10 kgs), I often had this dish for dinner along with a bed of veggie or veggie stir-fry. They worked on me very well!

In my early stage of cooking - I was very surprised about how flavourful tomatoes were. The tomato juice in this recipe will be absorbed by the egg, giving the scrambled egg a unique and delicious taste. Also, one of the best things about this recipe is that the only seasoning one needs is salt and thus the true flavour of tomato really rocks the dish! The one by two kitchen's secret to success for this recipe lies in the spring onions and the method of cooking - so pay attention but feel free to improvise!

I do recommend this dish for people who want to cook for their loved ones at home - especially for beginners! You will awe them for sure!

This recipe serves approximately 3 people in a typical Chinese dinner set (along with other dishes)

Ingredients:

1. Two large eggs - beaten
2. Five medium-sized tomatoes/plum tomatoes - ripe
3. Salt
4. Spring Onion (1 stick)
5. Oil

How to Prepare:

1. Chop the spring onion to small pieces
2. Cut each tomato to 4 pieces
3. In a pan, heat two tablespoons of oil
4. Pour 3/4 of the spring onion to the pan; fry and stir for around 2 minutes
5. Pour the beaten eggs to the spring onion and oil
6. Let the eggs set for a while (approximately until the eggs have created a base) then quickly scramble a little before all the eggs set; quickly transfer to a plate and set aside (NOTE: scramble a little and not to the texture of English breakfast's scrambled egg!)
7. Heat a tablespoon of oil and pour the remaining spring onion onto the pan; stir
8. Put the tomatoes to the pan; stir and wait until the tomato starts to cook and the juice comes out a little
9. Quickly put the half-cooked eggs on to the pan, stir fry
10. Occasionally using the wooden spoon press the tomatoes to help the juice comes out
11. Stir fry until the eggs have absorbed the tomato juice and turns slightly brown in colour
12. Transfer to a plate and serve!

P.S.: To excel well it is important to learn the tricks of scrambling the egg before all the egg sets and not to over-scramble them (different to scrambled egg in English breakfasts!)

Note: Some Chinese restaurants seem to add soup to the mixture and making it soupy - however I tend to not make it soupy to simplify things and to prevent using other flavouring rather than just salt and the real taste of tomato.

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Steamed Salmon Teriyaki with Cheese: a mix between the east and the west!

I don't normally post two recipes in a day (to give time for my blog to grow and for people to read) but because a very good acquaintance of mine, Olivia, asked me today to post the recipe for this from my FB album, I am posting it for her and for my readers too!

I love cooking salmons (and eating them too, of course). Ever since I got to the UK, salmons are half the price that I used to pay while I was in Asia, and so salmons always get on top of my shopping list. Usually whenever I go to my favourite supermarket, Sainsbury's, I absent-mindedly reach out to the seafood rack and grab two packs of skinless and boneless salmon (although later on I find that with a cheaper price, I can get a boneless but not skinless salmon).

Cheese, although is nothing particularly new to me, is pretty new when suddenly the supermarket has one aisle dedicated to them! I know Mozzarella and Cheddar, but I have no idea what Gouda or Leicester cheese are when I first arrived in the UK! So I have been doing so many cheese tasting (on my own), and I found tastes that I like and tastes that I would avoid as well. One of the cheeses that I will be using in this recipe is the black-peppered cheese, which I like because of the hot pepper sensation. The cheese is mild and not that matured and thus it will melt away beautifully when steamed.

I have a huge passion for Teriyaki sauce too, because I believe Teriyaki sauce is one of the sauces that I encountered when I first started learning to cook by myself in Singapore. This recipe is hugely influenced by my mom, who loves everything simple, tasty and homemade-y. Kudos to her for inspiring so many recipes that you will find in the one by two kitchen's album.

Oh and if anyone realises - I grew up in a place where 5-in-a-day was very encouraged and thus I tried incorporating a lot of them (except for the carbs, because to be honest I am an avid South-Beach Dieter).

Please note that a steamer will be needed, as well as a rounded bowl or a bowl to be used in the steamer.

Ingredients:

1. One approximately 250 gram fillet of salmon, skinless and boneless (boneless but not skinless is acceptable too)
2. Lettuce (preferably round lettuce)
3. White cup mushrooms (approximately 4)
4. Spring onions (1 or 2)
5. One slice of black-peppered cheese
6. Teriyaki sauce (preferably Kikoman)

How to Prepare:

1. Arrange a bed of lettuce leaves on the base of the rounded bowl
2. Slice the salmon fillet to around 5 or 6 chunky cubes, and arrange them on the bowl
3. Arrange the white cup mushrooms, alternating them with the salmon fillet (purely for aesthetic reason)
4. Chop the spring onions and sprinkle them above the salmon and the mushrooms
5. Pour teriyaki sauce over the bowl, around one and a half round of pouring will be sufficient
6. If you like it spicy, pour over chilli powders on top of the bowl
7. Put the bowl to the steamer and after the water boils - give 8 to 10 minutes or until the salmon turns opaque and the water from the steamer has condensed to the bowl and mixed with the teriyaki sauce to create a soup-like mixture
8. Place the cheese over the dish, steam for around 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted
9. Carefully move the bowl out of the steamer and serve warm

NOTE about salmons: salmon's skins will be easily removed once they are cooked - so don't sweat over it!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Chocolate Konyaku with Whiskey Fla Sauce

Sssssh! This is one of the world's worst kept secret dessert recipe! The recipe's simplicity and the extreme tastefulness make this recipe the perfect dessert to awe your guests away (proven on my guests, at least!)

I believe Konyaku jelly originated from Japan, and I plainly love the bouncy texture. Konyaku is different from Agar jelly though, as Agar jelly is harder and crunchier than Konyaku. So yeah in a way - both of them are good - but to AWE your guests - I'd go for Konyaku instant jelly instead. I'll post another recipe about Chocolate Agar Pudding later (not the British 'pudding'!)

So - coming back to Konyaku chocolate jelly. I'm a big, proper, and monstrous fan of chocolates. I wasn't before I came to England though! After setting my feet here and discovering the so many ranges of chocolates, I instantly fell in love with them! Now, I have huge problems whenever I have to pass Hotel Chocolat store cos most probably I will exit the store with 2 bags and a guilty face.

The Konyaku jelly that I use is an Indonesian branded one. It's instant and very easy to use.

Please prepare a Jelly Mould (or any mould will do - preferably round big tin mould or in the one by two kitchen's simple case: a rounded bowl!)

Ingredients:

- For Konyaku chocolate jelly

1. One sachet of Konyaku chocolate instant jelly (mine is Nutrijell from Indonesia)
2. 750 ml of water
3. One cup of sugar

- For Whiskey Fla Sauce

1. One and a half cup of semi-skimmed milk
2. Four tablespoons of whiskey (can be substituted to rum)
3. Approximately three tablespoons of sugar
4. Corn starch/instant granuling powder
5. One middle-sized egg yolk, remove the whites
6. Cinnamon powder

How to Prepare:

- For Konyaku chocolate jelly

1. Pour the Konyaku chocolate jelly powder to the pan, pour the 750 ml water and stir until smooth
2. Bring the mixture to a boil, stir occasionally
3. Pour the mixture to the mould, let it cool before preparing the whiskey fla sauce

- For Whiskey Fla Sauce

1. Pour the milk to the pan, add the egg yolk and stir
2. Pour the sugar in and stir
3. Heat the mixture and stir; add one tablespoon of cornstarch
4. Wait until the mixture comes to boil while slowly adding tablespoons of cornstarch (Note: the mixture will get very HEAVY with moderate amount of cornstarch, please wait until the mixture picks up the heat to determine the sauce's thickness!)
5. Flip the Konyaku jelly (or get the jelly out of the mould) and pour the fla sauce over the top of the jelly
6. Let the sauce cools and sets on the jelly
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon powder
8. Serve!

P.S.: I think what makes this recipe distinctive and unique and appealing to the guests is the whiskey fla or sauce.

For people who does not want alcohol, you can substitute the whiskey with rum flavouring or almond extract!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Korean Tapoki (Tteokbokki), the one by two kitchen way

the one by two kitchen Tapoki dish

I lurveeeeeeeeee Tapoki!

My first addiction to Tapoki was while I was still studying in China. A High School friend of mine who was studying in Hangzhou at that time, Evelyn, introduced me to this spicy and flavourful Korean street food dish, and since then - I became an avid Tapoki lover. Whenever I went to Korean restaurants in China (and there are plenty of them!), Tapoki would always be on my order list! A little while ago before I left China, some of my Korean friends told me that Tapoki actually belonged to Korean street food. I was amazed because I thought the taste was so good it should be a main menu instead of snacks or merely street food! Bless the Koreans for having created this wonderful recipe!

I tried some Tapoki dishes in Indonesia and was very disappointed. They seemed to add so many carrots and to me personally the mixture was just total havoc. Of course everybody is entitled to their own opinion.. And here goes my way of creating the Tapoki dish (if you are from Korea and consider this to be not authentic, let me know the real homemade way of making it!)

I don't really fancy putting carrots on them, because carrots are kind of sweet and it submerges the real spicy taste of the Gochujang sauce. I just think they don't go along! However I do love putting lettuces (round lettuces are the best, although iceberg lettuces will do) - they just mix along well with the taste.

I've heard recipes that use oil to help the rice cakes to not stick out with each other - I personally haven't tried the recipe - but will do and will post it once I tried it!

This recipe will serve around 2 plates for hungry people like me.

Ingredients:

1. Gochujang sauce - Korean Hot Sauce
2. Long rice cake - one pack
3. Cabbage (preferably round cabbage)
4. Fishball - 6 medium-sized fishballs (from Asian supermarkets: preferably Teochew fishball or if there is any - Korean fishball)
5. Seafood stick (kane stick) - 6 sticks
6. Garlic - crushed and evenly chopped - 1 tablespoon

Gochujang red hot sauce

How to prepare:

1. The long rice cake usually comes up very long, if they do - cut them to two.
2. Slice thin the fishballs
3. Slice the seafood sticks in two
4. Bring a pot of water to boil - put the long rice cake in and simmer until the rice cakes texture becomes soft. Careful not to over simmer them as the flour on the rice cake will start to melt away and the rice cakes become too sticky!
5. Use a strainer/sieve to drain the rice cakes and quickly rinse them with cold water to prevent them from sticking up. Set aside.
6. Put one tablespoon of oil on a pan, heat the pan and put the chopped garlic in
7. Stir the garlic and put the fishball and lettuce in
8. Scoop three tablespoons of Gochujang sauce in (or adjust them according to your resistance level to spiciness)
9. Pour a quarter cup of water and stir the sauce
10. Put the rice cake in, stir until all rice cakes are coated evenly
11. Put the seafood sticks in, stir.
12. Serve!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.


(edited: basically, I do not know the latinised version of 떡볶이 so apologies for the spelling error if any!)